Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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103. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide a progress report on the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan in Cork from 1 January 2022 to 31 January 2023; the number of premises connected during this timeframe, including schools and broadband connection points in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9777/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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There are 81,507 premises located in County Cork that will be passed by National Broadband Ireland with high-speed gigabit fibre broadband as part of the State Intervention under the National Broadband Plan.

I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 17 February 2023, over 129,400 premises can order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 26 counties, with over 118,600 premises passed across 26 counties and available for immediate connection.

As of January 2022, 4,514 premises were passed and 1,275 premises connected in Cork. As of 31st January 2023, NBI advise that 15,788 premises in total in County Cork have been passed and were available for immediate connection and 5,794 connections in total had been made to the NBP Gigabit network in County Cork.

Further details are available on specific areas within County Cork through the NBI website which provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website www.nbi.ie. Individuals who register with this facility will receive regular updates on progress by NBI on delivering the network and specific updates related to their own premises as works commence. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.

NBI have created a portal that serves as a means for Oireachtas members to proactively search for information relevant to their county/local area. The portal provides an up-to-date picture of NBI’s deployment schedule across the 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) in all 26 counties. A particular county can be selected to view an update of the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed and connected to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. The dedicated webpage can be accessed here: nbi.ie/reps.

Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. As of 17 February 2023, 864 SCP sites (282 Broadband Connection Points, which are publicly accessible sites, and 582 schools) have been installed. The high-speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for BCPs and the Department of Education for school SCPs. In County Cork all 24 BCPs have been installed, of which 2 were installed in 2022. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-map/

In County Cork 85 schools have been installed to date for educational access of which 55 Schools were installed in 2022. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high speed broadband, within the Intervention Area. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.